CoupTessa is a daily deal, coupon type site specifically for women (similar to Groupon).

But when we get beneath the surface, there’s much more to CoupTessa (a contraction of the word ‘coupon’ and the name ‘Tessa’) than meets the eye.

A Business Insider post titled “Meet The Ex-Morgan Stanley Exec Who Left Retirement To Start A Daily Deal Site Just For Women” caught my attention. In it the writer explains that CoupTessa was actually founded by men.

But wait, why would women want a daily deal site that men have come up with?

The answer lies in the great insight company founder David Horn “former head of global private client marketing at Morgan Stanley” has. Horn feels that “women make 90% of the consumer purchasing decisions” and we totally agree!

Because of this statistic, more and more companies are either specializing in the female sector altogether, or doing research to become a bigger player in that arena.

Make no mistake, the Groupon reminiscent structure of the site is more a superficial one than an indicator of the site’s business model. CoupTessa, unlike Groupon, intends to connect to women through the deals that they offer. The women who benefit from these coupons will in turn share the website and the deals with their friends, because overall women use more social media than men.

Additionally, Horn explains that his impetus for coming out of retirement was in fact the success of Groupon, but “I thought there could be a clever marketing spin around women…they are so different from men, and love a service referral from a good friend”, he elaborates. SheBytes feels that Horn has pinpointed something important about the modern woman.

CoupTessa is designed so that friends will benefit from each friend they get to sign up, but more importantly, women get the simple satisfaction of sharing a deal with a friend. Not only will they be able to talk about the experience afterwards, but also they will connect more to the site and associate it with those good feelings.

CoupTessa’s website is design friendly and even has a dedicated “Who is Tessa?” page which mythologizes, but makes the company’s background story more approachable. Here is where I found the crucial factoid that differentiates women from men, CoupTessa from Groupon. In talking about Tessa, the fictional site-mother, it says “her wide array of friends and followers have made her a trend setter and a sought after hostess”.

Women want to be thought of as thrifty, clever, street smart and most of all; inclusive of others.

If this doesn’t tell you what women are all about, I don’t know what will.